Русская версияAt an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on
Wednesday, Aug 13, France led calls to send in international
peacekeepers to Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia to
replace Russian troops there.
"The idea of having monitors -- what you call peacekeeping troops,
I wouldn't call them like that -- but European controllers,
monitors, facilitators, yes, yes and yes.
That is how Europe should
be on the ground," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told
reporters in Brussels.
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Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Sarkozy, left, with Saakashvili in Tbilisi
France, which currently chairs the EU's six-month rotating
presidency, brokered a peace agreement in Moscow on Tuesday to end
the fierce six-day conflict between Russia and Georgia in the
breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Kouchner accompanied French President Nicolas Sarkozy on his
diplomatic mission to Moscow this week.
Under the terms of the agreement, Moscow is to withdraw most of its
forces but leave a military presence in the two breakaway zones.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has also accepted Sarkozy's
plan.
Germany
welcomes international monitors
A few EU countries welcomed the French proposal to dispatch
international peacekeepers to the two separatist provinces.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier backed the
monitoring idea and said the EU should avoid a blame game and focus
on how it could play a constructive role to stabilize the Caucasus.
"We should not have a long discussion on how to respond to the
escalation of the last days. The EU must decide which role it wants
to play in the future," Steinmeier said.
The German foreign minister added the only way for the bloc to play
a "real role" in the Caucasus would be to keep its channels with
Moscow and Tbilisi open, rather than make "one-sided
condemnations."
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Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Georgian officials said Russian forces were still bombing the
strategic town of Gori
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski was one of several EU
ministers to say that "international forces would be more
credible."
Italy has already said it is willing to contribute up to 1,000
soldiers to such a force.
"We need an international presence," said Finnish Foreign Minister
Alexander Stubb, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Differences remain
But differences also emerged over what consequences to draw from
Russia's military offensive in Georgia.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the EU should decide
next month "whether or not and how" to continue talks on closer
ties with Moscow.
"The international community will want to ensure that the message
goes out that force is not the right way to take forward these
difficult issues," Miliband said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said there must be
consequences for Russia's "unacceptable and disproportional" use of
force.
With no concrete decisions expected on Wednesday, many ministers
said the most immediate priority should be to ensure that the
ceasefire holds and that humanitarian aid reaches the tens of
thousands of people who have displaced by the conflict.
The extraordinary meeting was convened to discuss the latest
conflict between Georgia -- an EU hopeful -- and Russia, which
resents the West's growing influence on its borders.
(Deutsche Welle)
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